New shuttle bus service to Edinburgh from Queensferry 2018

I've just been told that there will be a new and hopefully even better shuttle bus service this year, going from the pier in Queensferry non-stop to the city centre. The drop off point will be at the main bus station - St Andrews Square in the New Town, a short walk rom Princes Street. It will cost £6 round trip (what a bargain!) and will run at least every 20 minutes. You will be able to pay by credit card or GBP at the pier. For an extra £3 you can also include unlimited travel on buses throughout the day and if you pay £20 total, you get the shuttle bus plus the hop-on, hop-off bus (choice of 3 routes). Because the buses have 2 storeys (double deckers) they can hold more passengers so this will hopefully eliminate the queues. It will be in place for the first ship of the year at South Queensferry - Royal Princess on May 10th.

This is the leaflet:

And here is one of the buses:

Spread the word on your roll call and feel free to ask any questions.

Thanks for the update, very much appreciated. We [5 of us] will be on the May 1st sailing of the Royal Princess and will see you on board after we leave Invergordon.

Darcy

That’s very useful info; thank you!

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Thanks for the update, very much appreciated. We [5 of us] will be on the May 1st sailing of the Royal Princess and will see you on board after we leave Invergordon.

 

Darcy

Come up and say hello! Or I'll probably be in Vines for a snack afterwards then Crooners!!

Come up and say hello! Or I'll probably be in Vines for a snack afterwards then Crooners!!

Great choices for a wee bit of liquid snacking. See you there.

Darcy

Thank you for posting. Very helpful.

Thank a lot : very good news for us!

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Thanks for the update, very much appreciated. We [5 of us] will be on the May 1st sailing of the Royal Princess and will see you on board after we leave Invergordon.

 

Darcy

Have a great time in the UK again. The booklet on Salem was a great help, had a really good day there.

David & Jacki

Thanks for the update, looks good since we are over-nighting there and were considering the HOHO for one of the days.

We will be there in August and would love to here how this is working?

It says every twenty minutes...I guess my question would be if the first bus fills up, does everyone else have to wait 20 minutes for the next one? Or do they have several running the same schedule? If only one bus every 20 minutes, you may end up waiting over an hour to get on a bus when the tenders start in the am. And at the end of the day, there may be a rather large line to get back to the pier....if only one bus, and it fills up, then what? A wait for the next bus in 20 minutes and a hope you make that one? So curious as to how this will work out, how popular it will be. Perhaps they may have several buses at the beginning and end of the day.

My understanding is that there will be maximum gap of 20 minutes between buses. Lothian Buses runs all the buses round Edinburgh and has hundreds at their disposal. This is a completely new route to them, however, so I'm afraid your questions can't be answered until it's been tried and tested over several cruises. However there was never a problem getting everyone back from Edinburgh to Queensferry with the previous operator and far less buses. It will be a matter of suck it and see

Have a great time in the UK again. The booklet on Salem was a great help, had a really good day there.

 

David & Jacki

Glad you enjoyed Salem, so much to see just outside of Boston. The north shore has a strong whaling history. We never made it to this year's travel show; another massive snow storm and 3 days without power.

We are flying into LHR this coming weekend and spending a few days in London before an overnight in Southampton. Audrey, who has been our driver on the past few trips, will finally join us on the cruise. She's in London this weekend, staying at a posh hotel with a group of ladies, doing theater, high tea and lots of needless shopping& pub exploration before returning to Bournemouth to work for a few days, pack and meet us at Ocean Terminal.

Future trip might be back to Wales though I also want to explore the area east of Southampton, too. If so, then we can meet at Dragon Fly - what a treasure for a local watering hole! Best to Jacki.

Darcy

This is great! So do you know if they will have more than one bus as - at that price and schedule many of the 2100 passengers on our ship (Brilliance of Seas in Queensferry on Saturday June 24th) will want to take it.

I smiling a lot but with cautious optimism:cool:

As I said, this company has hundreds of buses and the timetable says they will be running every 20 minutes but at peak times the aim is they will run more often. The' re a very experienced, award-winning company which supplies all the other buses in Edinburgh so I feel pretty confident in them. BUT yes there may be teething problems.

Looks great, unfortunately does not take Codger Cards, though probably best for cruisers as they’d have to dislodge half of Edinburgh’s pensioners to get a seat. The day ticket looks a good deal.

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It looks like they only get you back 45 minutes before the ship departs - that would make me nervous unless they DID have a lot of buses lined up to leave at once. Hopefully someone who's cruising in May can report back!! :)

It looks like they only get you back 45 minutes before the ship departs - that would make me nervous unless they DID have a lot of buses lined up to leave at once. Hopefully someone who's cruising in May can report back!! :)

Notice that there are not just set times. They will run ever 20 minutes ALL DAY. So just plan to be on one that leaves 75 minutes before on board and you'll be fine. I think this a great service. Yes, we'll hear from those traveling in May.

.

Actually this URL is even better! https://lothianbuses.co.uk/news/article/new-service-x99

As I said, this company has hundreds of buses and the timetable says they will be running every 20 minutes but at peak times the aim is they will run more often. The' re a very experienced, award-winning company which supplies all the other buses in Edinburgh so I feel pretty confident in them. BUT yes there may be teething problems.

This is a great new service,for people arriving in Edinburgh. They certainly are experienced and I use the trams / buses alot when im in Edinburgh. Good to see they are forward thinking.

I'm just a little confused on the HOHO portion of the ticket. Is it one bus company (Lothian) that has 3 routes, or are there 3 different companies we can use. I see the "City Sightseeing" bus logo on the bottom of the flier. That's the company I was going to purchase originally, and the only company where I actually found a map of their route. It also shows "Edinburgh Tour" and "Majestic Tour" logos as well. Are they all owned by Lothian? Can anyone clarify?

Thanks, Brenda

I'm just a little confused on the HOHO portion of the ticket. Is it one bus company (Lothian) that has 3 routes, or are there 3 different companies we can use. I see the "City Sightseeing" bus logo on the bottom of the flier. That's the company I was going to purchase originally, and the only company where I actually found a map of their route. It also shows "Edinburgh Tour" and "Majestic Tour" logos as well. Are they all owned by Lothian? Can anyone clarify?

 

Thanks, Brenda

It sounds like it Brenda. The HOHO option (as they say it starts around the corner from the X99 bus) is good as it will get you to the Castle for not much more and you can make a loop. You should be prepated to buy your castle tickets ahead of time to avoid the line and be assured of a time.

S

It looks like they only get you back 45 minutes before the ship departs - that would make me nervous unless they DID have a lot of buses lined up to leave at once. Hopefully someone who's cruising in May can report back!! :)

I'll be on Royal Princess on 9th May doing my talk in the evening and running an info desk the following morning. When I disembark, I'll check with the people on the pier how it's gone and report back.

I'm just a little confused on the HOHO portion of the ticket. Is it one bus company (Lothian) that has 3 routes, or are there 3 different companies we can use. I see the "City Sightseeing" bus logo on the bottom of the flier. That's the company I was going to purchase originally, and the only company where I actually found a map of their route. It also shows "Edinburgh Tour" and "Majestic Tour" logos as well. Are they all owned by Lothian? Can anyone clarify?

 

Thanks, Brenda

Yes Lothian buses runs 3 different routes. It probably demonstrates what a big concern they are. The Edinburgh Tour has a live commentary but only in English and because of that, it's the one I prefer. It gives you a good overview of the Old and New Towns. (remember the New Town is 250 years old! The Majestic Tour is wider-ranging and goes out as far as Newhaven and Leith where there are cruise ports too. This line allows you to visit The Botanic Gardens and Royal Yacht Britannia as well as part of the city centre. The City Sightseeing (red bus) also covers the Old and New Towns in a different order and has a recorded commentary in lots of different languages. If you buy the £20 ticket you can choose to do one of these routes and they all start 5 minutes downhill from the bus station. Here's a link to the official website which will explain the routes in more detail. You're not offered The Three Bridges Tour because it's aimed at bringing people out to Queensferry from the city. Queensferry is a small but very characterful town.

I'll be on Royal Princess on 9th May doing my talk in the evening and running an info desk the following morning. When I disembark, I'll check with the people on the pier how it's gone and report back.

 

 

 

Yes Lothian buses runs 3 different routes. It probably demonstrates what a big concern they are. The Edinburgh Tour has a live commentary but only in English and because of that, it's the one I prefer. It gives you a good overview of the Old and New Towns. (remember the New Town is 250 years old! The Majestic Tour is wider-ranging and goes out as far as Newhaven and Leith where there are cruise ports too. This line allows you to visit The Botanic Gardens and Royal Yacht Britannia as well as part of the city centre. The City Sightseeing (red bus) also covers the Old and New Towns in a different order and has a recorded commentary in lots of different languages. If you buy the £20 ticket you can choose to do one of these routes and they all start 5 minutes downhill from the bus station. Here's a link to the official website which will explain the routes in more detail. You're not offered The Three Bridges Tour because it's aimed at bringing people out to Queensferry from the city. Queensferry is a small but very characterful town.

Thank you, this makes a lot more sense to me now. I couldn't see the link but with all your other info I was able to find it, and see all the different maps which is great! I definitely appreciate the help. Brenda

We won’t be there till August, so we have time to hear how this all works. I have only one question perhaps if someone can remember to ask. We are doing an overnight in Edinburgh, so I’m wondering if our return can be used the next day or if the return has to be the same day as you bought the ticket.

Thank you for posting this info. We tender in on July 09!

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In my post, I forgot to add the link to the hop-on, hop-off website

https://edinburghtour.com

Thanks for the update, very much appreciated. We [5 of us] will be on the May 1st sailing of the Royal Princess and will see you on board after we leave Invergordon.

 

Darcy

We will be on the Royal sailing August 17. Please post all about your trip so we can read it before we go!

Have a wonderful trip!

Penny